Art has used the primal fear of the unknown - able to petrify us for as long as people have been creating it.

From terrifying cave drawings and carvings to novels, films and videos, the depictions are vastly different in style and level of sophistication, but the theme is the same. It is fear of the creak in the darkness, the whisper in the night and the figure in the shadows.

Human beings, across centuries and cultures, have always had a fascination with ghosts and other supernatural entities. We simply love ghost stories.

So many films, books and even now computer games have used the primal fear of the unknown to petrify us for generations. Such a close fascination with ghosts and the like have compelled us for centuries and all from all around the world.

That fear can become pure terror at times, especially if one has an encounter with a supernatural of their own. And particularly if they're a child at the time.

Carl, a man I spoke to recently, was only 10 when he encountered the supernatural back in 1984, and his experience not only terrified him to the core but has stuck with him to this day.

Now aged 43, Carl was a happy-go-lucky lad who was popular with family and friends alike. Life was fun, pleasant and full of fond memories for the young man.

The family home in Longton was a newly-built property with a large garden and a garage which included an inspection pit which filled the young Carl with a mixture of inquisitiveness and fear. His father had strict rules about going near it, which only added to its allure.

"On many an occasion I would look through the small Perspex window on the side of the garage and stare at the inspection pit covered by large 'sleeper'-like pieces of wood." Carl told me.

"I was genuinely fascinated as to what was down below the wooden sleepers, in the darkness of the pit."

More than once his father had left the garage unlocked, often due to the lock playing up, and Carl had considered venturing inside. However he had always lost his nerve before going in.

One night in the winter of 1984 he plucked up the courage and went into the garage. That boyish curiosity led to an experience he would never forget.

He was playing in the house's large back garden and as he passed the garage door he grabbed the door knob and tried to turn it, as he always did, to discover to was unlocked.

Apprehensively he decided to go and see what was in the pit. He twisted the handle and the door swung open.

For the first time nothing stood between Carl and the ominous pit. It looked even more terrifying up close, especially now he was all alone.

"It sound stupid now but it felt like I'd walked into a cage and suddenly realised that I was not alone and a large wild animal was in there with me." He explained "But I was so curious and had come so far with facing my fears that I couldn't close the door now."

Young Carl stepped over the threshold and into the darkness of the unlit garage. With no working light the interior of the building was laced in shadow. The entire thing felt like it was breathing. Things began to stir in the darkness and Carl felt his heart pounding in his chest.

But he had come this far. He needed to see what was beneath the wooden sleepers. What lay in the darkness below?

Eventually he was stood over the pit and, hands shaking, he reached down to attempt to move one of the large wooden sleepers but it was far too heavy – he tried again, nothing.

Out of every 10,000 stories of boyhood exploration like this one, nothing would happen in 9,999 of them and the worst thing that could possibly happen would be a scolding from his father for wandering where he shouldn't have been.

Unfortunately, what happened next was the one exception in that ten thousand.

A soft female voice hissed out of the pit.

"Leave" it said.

Terrified Carl turned to flee - and as he did he heard another noise. The sound terrified him even more than the whisper. It was the sound of wood sliding across the floor. The sleepers were being moved and whatever was down in the pit was coming out.

He reached the door and slammed it shut before turning round to find himself face-to-face with his annoyed father. Despite his father's anger he was relieved to see him and gripped him in a hug before telling him what had happened.

Carl's dad opened the garage and saw that one of the sleepers over the pit had, indeed, been moved. However, rather than putting the blame for this on a supernatural being he instead blamed Carl for moving it.

The lock on the garage was changed soon afterwards and Carl was kept safe from the pit and whatever was lurking inside in its darkness on that night in 1984.

Some memories of childhood are not all good ones...

To share your story with Damon, email@ supernaturalstaffordshire@outlook.com